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PTSD is an anxiety disorder precipitated by a traumatic event, such
as a natural disaster, for instance a fire or an earthquake; either being the
victim of or witnessing a serious crime( a violent or sexual crime); involvement
in a war particularly combat; victim of a traffic accident or any horrific and
traumatic experience including losing a loved one or friend or having to undergo
invasive and stressful treatments for serious illness, either suffering such
trauma personally or having to experience the suffering of a loved one or close
friend. I would imagine that the experiences that might precipitate the on set
of PTSD may vary from person to person, the more sensitive the individual
concerned the more likely he or she could be affected by trauma that might well
not affect others as not everyone who undergoes a traumatic experience will go
on to develop PTSD; not every one involved in a war no matter how horrific
the experiences suffered will develop PTSD. Perhaps there exists a
predisposition towards the development of PTSD if circumstances arise that could
bring on this very distressful anxiety disorder. PTSD is a new classification of
an illness that for many years was recognised amongst military personal and was
referred to as shell shock indeed my father suffered from this anxiety disorder
after his term with the army during world war two and for the rest of his life
he was medicated on sedatives. He never spoke of his time in the army becoming
irritable and tense if requested to do so. The disorder, which in modern times
is more prevalent due to increases in exposure to more traumatic events, can
occur at any age and can become cumulative if one is subjected to further
traumatic experiences. Sufferers find their abilities to cope with the normal
day to day demands of living become increasingly more difficult effecting
their ability to cope with social life, working or school life and personal
relationships.
Experts may be able to tell in advance who will eventually suffer
with PTSD. During the first two days and up to four weeks persons who
have undergone some traumatic experiences may exhibit symptoms of a
syndrome called acute stress disorder and this can help ascertain who
will eventually suffer PTSD as sufferers who present with acute stress
disorder are more likely to develope symptoms of the more chronic PTSD.
If the symptoms go on beyond one month a diagnosis of PTSD is
indicated. For a diagnosis the sufferer must have been exposed to a
traumatic event which has produced extreme fear, a sense of horror or
hopelessness, to have experienced such trauma either to themselves or
others, such as the experiences cited above, and present with some or
all of the following symptoms.
The sufferer
experiences the events of the trauma as flashbacks, unwanted and intrusive
images and thoughts, dreams/nightmares, panic and feelings of distress when
confronted with painful reminders of the event. The person than tries to avoid
situations, people, conversations and so which remind him or her of the
event. The person may become detached and experiences an emotional numbness and
loss of interest in life.
Other symptoms which are
common to anxiety disorders in general are also present in PTSD including
sleep difficulties such as an inability to fall asleep or waking early or sleep
disturbance, difficulty concentrating, irritability, becoming more easily
startled, for instance by sudden noise such as a door slamming. Depression,
guilt ( if for instance one survived while others did not) and anger are also
common symptoms in PTSD along with possible substance abuse such as excessive
use of alcohol in an attempt to dampen the severity of symptoms. Marital
problems may rise along with problems in other personal relationships and sexual
dysfunction. The person may become suicidal and physical problems such as
headaches, gastrointestinal illness and so on may also manifest. The
sufferer may go on to suffer from other anxiety disorders such as
panic attacks
or GAD. |
